Following Gina Ford CLB

[teamdozie]

Hi there.
i was wondering if anyone has followed GF CLB with a premature baby.
LO in 8+3 but 0 corrected. DH and i are in the first 24 hours of it and LO did well through the night.
I am worried that she may be getting too much food. She tends to eat 4oz/120ml per feed.
We had gone from 3hrl from SCBU to 4hrl on advice from the outreach nurse.
Any advice is welcome. Should we start as of 8 weeks corrected as opposed to 8 weeks actual?

I have had two prems.
My first had a feed every 4 hours like clock work.
The second demand fed every 3 hour, give or take. I would just keep a record of how much they take over a 24 hour period. Its very early days still so try not too worry. As long as baby is gaining weight well.

Be careful especially wrt food. Prems tend to gain weight quicker and have more growth spurts as they are catching up weight wise. So may want bigger or more frequent feeds than the CLB suggests for their age. Don't cut back on what she seems to want.

I am surprised by 4hourly feeds for a 0 weeks corrected premature baby, seems very spaced out, what weight is she? Some outreach nurses/HVs are very old fashioned with their advice so I would take with a pinch of salt, if your dd seems to prefer 3 hourly then personally I'd stick with that in the day and hope for longer at night.

Sleep wise, well it never worked for mine but more because she was tongue tied and windy and doesn't need much sleep anyway rather than because she was prem.

Do be aware that 0 corrected doesn't mean she will behave exactly like a full term newborn. In some ways prem babies act their actual age, in other ways their corrected age, in others something in between (and early or poorly prems can often be behind even their adjusted age).

In summary by all means try but don't be too rigid. I tried doing CLB with my prem and it made us both miserable. It may work for you (esp if you don't have tongue tie or reflux to contend with) but do be open to the idea that your LO may have different sleep patterns or feeding needs due to being prem.

CLB would be the last thing I would try on a prem baby. I bet that bliddy outreach nurse doesnt go four hours without a sip of water or a cup of tea. Given that large infrequent feeds are more likely to trigger reflux induced apnoea I'd be feeding 2-3 hourly. Thats what I did w dd who wss 13 weeks early. Our nicus nursery suggested four hourly but their advice was v out of date. Given prems are at enhanced risk of anxiety and attachment disorders full stop I'd keep things as baby led as possible - the opposite of clb.

Oh gosh, I'd agree with poppet. 4 hours too long. Think of your baby as a newborn when feeding every hour not unusual! I always correct my daughters age (even now at age 3) Schedules are not for prems in my opinion (though I've only had one - a 28 weeker). Feed them when they ask for as long as they ask. It doesn't last for ever.

Preemie twin 1 fed every 30mins-1hour for a few months, now usually every 1-2 hours.

Preemie twin 2 fed every 2 hour for ages!! And has only just dropped to roughly every 4 hours :)

They are 11mo actual (born 31wks ges)